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Wednesday, 11 May 2016

A Dog And Bullets: Post #2

On Monday I started examining a dream that had symbols
defying an easy understanding:

A woman’s dream

I’m at a social
gathering—like a cocktail party—with lots of people, some of whom I know.
Everyone is in a jovial mood. I look around and see that a special friend of mine,
Gus, is there with his favorite dog. I’m delighted to see them because it has
been quite a while since we last had contact. But even though the party is
lively and upbeat, I also notice that there are bullets flying around all over.
I am not hit by one, but I do feel a sense of unease. Somehow I have a
premonition that one is going to head right for me, so I step out of the way.
The bullet whizzes past where I had just been standing and it hits the dog,
killing it. I feel a tremendous sense of guilt knowing that, had I not stepped
out of the way, the dog would still be alive.

Revealing the
metaphors in each symbol

Each symbol represents an idea that is expressed through
metaphor. The first task is to discover what that metaphor is. This will be
different for each dreamer, so the only person who can unlock the metaphoric
meaning is the dreamer herself. I usually start with a neutral question, like, “Tell
me about it.” Then, if I need more detail or a different kind of answer, I will
gently ask for elaboration. The following result is typical.

Tell me about…

* Social gathering: a lot of friends all in one place having a
good time

* Cocktail party: Relaxing and letting off tensions with
drinks

* People I know:My
social network

* Jovial:Merry, happy

* Look around:Become
aware of my surroundings

* Special friend Gus: He was a mentor to me when I was
younger. He was like a father to me.

* Favorite dog:Dogs
are companions. They give love and help protect. This one was very special to
* Gus.

* Delighted:Thrilled

* Long time no contact:I was out of touch and I missed him.

* Bullets: Lethal projectiles. They’re designed to kill living
things.

* Unease: uncomfortable, and I have misgivings

* Premonition:I know
something is going to happen before it does.

* Step away:I was
moving out of the line of fire.

* Bullet whizzes past:I barely escaped being wounded or killed.

* Kills dog:Gus’s
special friend and companion ceased to exist.

* Tremendous guilt:I
took responsibility for something bad.

* Dog could be alive:There might have been a different outcome.

Commentary

Often, after the dreamer has described the metaphors, an
observer can look down the list of the dreamer’s comments, for example “A lot
of friends all in one place having a good time,” and get a sense of the dream’s
message. In this dream, that’s more difficult, so we’ll need to formally
reassemble the dream. In the meantime, we can see that there is some sort of
conflict with guilt and a (metaphoric) death involved.

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Hello! Welcome to my blog about dream interpretation. My name is David Rivinus and I'm a dream analyst with over 40 years of experience. On this blog you can read dreams and their interpretations. You can also follow discussions and theories of the interpretation process--including some unusual ideas about what constitutes a dream. I always invite your constructive comments and insights. If you enjoy what you read here, I also invite you to follow my blog by clicking on the "subscribe" button at the bottom left corner of this page.
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